Prep Rally: From watching John Elway to riding in an F-16, some memories can’t be beat

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. My name is Eric Sondheimer. It’s my 48th year covering high school football in Southern California. Let’s look back at some special moments.

Memories

Quarterback Josh Rosen, in a 2013 photo, celebrating St. John Bosco going 16-0.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

My days covering high school football in Southern California began in 1976. It coincided with the arrival of a future Hall of Famer, John Elway, at Granada Hills High. So every quarterback since has had the unfortunate burden of being compared to him. No one has surpassed him yet. But what a run it has been.

The moments, the crazy games, the great players, the drama, the fun, the excitement — it’s kept me coming back year after year.

During a vacation this summer, I decided to write down some of those memories.

Come for the ride that includes an F-16 flight with former Crespi quarterback Randy Redell.

Here are the memories.

Southern Section football

Orange Lutheran quarterback TJ Lateef goes airborne hurdling over Wesley Ace (18) of Gardena Serra. He was given a 15-yard penalty.

(Craig Weston)

The opening week of the high school football season had plenty of good games and top performances.

It started with No. 1 Mater Dei taking on No. 2 Corona Centennial. Mater Dei prevailed 42-25. Centennial played without quarterback Husan Longstreet. Here’s the report.

Mater Dei’s next game will be Sept. 6 against Las Vegas Bishop Gorman at Santa Ana Stadium in a game that people will promote as No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the nation. Both schools have this week off.

In a battle of top 10 teams, Orange Lutheran held off Gardena Serra 21-13. Here’s the report.

JSerra upset Sierra Canyon 35-7.

Mission Viejo’s defense rose up with four interceptions in a 35-7 win over Santa Margarita. Here’s the report.

St. John Bosco traveled to Florida and rallied to defeat Madonna (Fla.) Chaminade 34-27 behind sophomore safety Isaia Wily-Ava, who had a sack, interception and pass breakup in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore quarterback Jaden Jefferson engineered a double overtime win for Cathedral over Loyola, passing for 197 yards and rushing for 104 yards. Cash O’Byrne of Tesoro passed for 525 yards and five touchdowns in win over Murrieta Mesa.

There were so many top performances but few better than Savion Taylor of Oxnard Pacifica. In his first game back from an injury that sidelined him during his junior season, he caught 19 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns against West Ranch. Quarterback Dom Duran passed for 501 yards and six touchdowns.

Freshman quarterback Jesse Saucedo of Monrovia passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Palmdale.

Here’s the list of top performances from Zero Week.

Here’s the scores list.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times

City Section football

Steven Perez, left, and Salvador Zamora pose for a photo after Banning’s defeat of Dorsey on Friday night.

(Benjamin Royer / For The Times)

Banning came out with a strong ground game and effective offensive line in a 49-21 win over Dorsey. Here’s the report. It sets up a big game on Thursday for Banning against Granada Hills, which defeated Franklin 22-7 without attempting a single pass. Look for lots of running and a game ending before 9 p.m. Jonathan Martin of Granada Hills rushed for 104 yards.

Narbonne continued its comeback to City Section relevancy with a 28-14 win over Garfield. Bulldogs coach Lorenzo Hernandez said he was impressed with Narbonne quarterback Jaden O’Neal and the improvement in running back Jamari Ladd.

Junior quarterback Liam Pasten of Eagle Rock completed 16 of 22 passes for 251 yards and four touchdown and ran for another in a win over Taft.

Junior James Montes of Kennedy led the defense in a 37-0 win over El Camino Real. He had three tackles for losses. Sophomore running back CJ Green of Cleveland rushed for 208 yards and three touchdowns in win over Harvard-Westlake.

Arturo Arguello had 18 tackles in Los Angeles’ win over Panorama. Adrian Mendoza of Maya Angelou completed 11 of 13 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns in win over Marshall. Senai Hull had three sacks.

Here’s the latest top 10 City Section rankings.

SoFi hosting prep game

The biggest high school football rivalry in the City Section, Garfield vs. Roosevelt, appears headed to SoFi Stadium on Oct. 25.

The schools have agreed and now it’s a matter of waiting for an official announcement.

The annual East L.A. Classic drew 19,000 at the Coliseum in 2022.

Here’s the report.

Girls flag football

The MaxPreps flag football rankings are out. Western Christian (7-0) is ranked No. 1. Here are the rankings.

Santa Margarita (2-0) and JSerra (3-0) are rising teams.

Girls’ volleyball

The match of the week was unbeaten Huntington Beach defeating Orange Lutheran in four sets. Ellie Esko had 17 kills. Another quality match was Mater Dei knocking off Newport Harbor in four sets. Mira Costa defeated Marymount in four sets. Mira Costa at Mater Dei is happening on Sept. 5.

Redondo Union hosts Mater Dei on Tuesday night. Marymount defeated Redondo Union in a five-set match last week.

Here’s the link to the CIF state volleyball notebook.

Water polo

Jonas Ransford returns as goalkeeper for JSerra’s water polo team that went unbeaten last season.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Defending Southern Section Open Division champion JSerra opened its season with a 13-9 win over La Jolla. The Lions must deal with life after Olympian Ryder Dodd, who’s now at UCLA.

Having goalie Jonas Ransford back from a 30-0 team helps. Taylor Bell scored five goals and freshman Sean Anderson had three goals in the season opener.

JSerra, Newport Harbor, Harvard-Westlake and Oaks Christian are the teams to watch.

Hall of Fame

Former Taft receiver Steve Smith will be inducted into the City Section Hall of Fame. Here he is at jersey retirement. His wife, Alyssa, was there, along with sons Jordan, Theo and Carter.

(Craig Weston)

The City Section announced its latest 20 inductees into its sports Hall of Fame.

There are some well-known names, such as former NFL receiver Steve Smith from Taft, running back Wendell Tyler from Crenshaw, former major leaguers Ryan Braun from Granada Hills and Randy Wolf from Granada Hills.

City Section Hall of Fame selections for 2025.

(City Section)

Here’s the report.

Basketball

Wearing size 17 shoes and having broad shoulders and big hands, 6-foot-7 junior Tyran Stokes sure looks the part of a high school basketball player who’s going to be tough to stop this coming season.

He has transferred from Prolific Prep in Napa to Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, wanting to experience regular high school life while playing in the competitive Mission League.

“It’s what I expected, a regular high school, a lot more people,” Stokes said before practicing in the Notre Dame gym earlier this week. “It’s a big adjustment, but I feel I’m going to be able to work through it and enjoy it.”

He’s won two gold medals representing USA national teams and ranks among the top three players from the class of 2026. He has a friendly, outgoing personality and already looks adjusted to his move in the first week of classes. He joins Josiah Nance from Hertitage Christian and NaVorro Bowman from Virginia as transfers in the Notre Dame program that returns Zachary White and Angelino Mark from the Southern Section Division 1 championship team.

Harvard-Westlake standout Nikolas Khamenia is leaving this week for the 3x3 World Cup in Hungary after being selected for the USA 18U national team.

Harvard-Westlake boys basketball David Rebibo will be the interim girls’ basketball program head, with assistant Alex Nailes assuming girls head coaching duties. Melissa Hearlihy stepped down as head coach.

Mater Dei has added to its refurbished gym floor, “Gary McKnight Court.” McKnight is the winningest coach in California history.

Sophomore point guard Djordan Hall from Heritage Christian has transferred to Windward. He can help replace Gavin Hightower, who transferred to Sierra Canyon.

Notes . . .

The growth of flag football has motivated the National Federation of State High School Assns. to announce that it will be writing rules for the sport effective for the 2025-26 season. There are 12 state associations who have sanctioned girls’ flag football and 19 others using it as pilot program. The rules will be written for boys and girls. Flag football is scheduled to be an Olympic sport in Los Angeles in 2028. . . .

There were 8,062,302 participants in high school sports nationally, according to the new participation survey from the National Federation of State High School Assns. That’s a record, up 210,469. 11-man football grew from 1,028,761 to 1,031,508. Girls flag football doubled from 20,785 to 42,955. . . .

State and City Section high jump champion Deshawn Banks of Birmingham has enrolled at San Jose State on scholarship. He went from basketball player to perhaps future Olympian. . . .

Angelina Habis, who played extensively as a freshman at Harvard-Westlake before transferring this fall to Chaminade, announced she has committed to Princeton for women’s basketball. . . .

Tight end Stevie Amar Jr. of Oaks Christian has committed to Boston College. . . .

Former Mater Dei coach Frank McManus has joined the coaching staff at Mission Viejo. . . .

Catcher Lawson Olmstead of Mater Dei has committed to Cal.

From the archives: Jaydn Ott

California running back Jaydn Ott (6) runs for a touchdown against UCLA in 2022.

(Jed Jacobsohn / Associated Press)

Former Norco running back Jaydn Ott should be one of the top ballcarriers in the nation playing for Cal. He also catches passes out of the backfield. In two years with the Bears, he has rushed for 2,212 yards and 20 touchdowns.

He was a standout at Norco as a freshman and in his senior year. He also attended Bishop Gorman.

From 2022, a look when Cal fans started getting excited.

Recommendations

From the Washington Post, a story on former Cajon quarterback Jayden Daniels, the new starting quarterback for the Washington Commanders.

From the Los Angeles Times, a story on former Bishop Alemany quarterback Miller Moss winning the starting position at USC.

From the Sacramento Bee, a story on issues affecting schools in Northern California, including transfers.

Tweets you might have missed